Week 14:
Hunting season started off with a bang on September 1st (please pardon the obligatory pun), and I’ve since been busy collecting wings from the barrels in order to record harvest data. As of last Friday, we have documented over 175 doves harvested from the farm so far this season, so quite a bit of activity for the first week. Adult mourning doves have accounted for approximately 59% of birds harvested, with juvenile mourning doves making up another 24% and all white-winged doves and Eurasian collared doves coming in at 11% and 6%, respectively. I am interested to see if those percentages change over time as the season progresses.
Coverboard deployment was pushed back a week due to some adjustments I made to the lifts after constructing a test coverboard with the original lengths, which did not leave as wide an opening as I had envisioned. I spent some time last week shortening the lifts and trimming them at an angle in order to further encourage herps that might be moving along the outer e
dge to flow into the opening and under the board. I began distributing the boards on Monday and should finish setting everything up by tomorrow. The included photo shows the underside of the final design for the lifted coverboard.
Last week’s interesting wildlife sightings included a juvenile Western ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoletus) who had the misfortune to get caught in a glue trap inside a house (it was rescued and released), as well as a female Io moth (Automeris io) found resting on the office door one morning and a Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) enjoying her lunch of filleted dragonfly. Side note: If you find an animal in a glue or sticky trap that you wish to release, try spraying non-stick cooking spray on and around where it is stuck to the trap, avoiding the head as much as possible, before attempting to gently peel the animal off the trap. Liberal application of olive oil or a similar product can also help the process along, and will help remove the glue from your hands as well.
Dani Miller
Wildlife Biologist
Stiles Farm Foundation